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More bad news today for bad guys. The scientific brain trust at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has discovered a powerful new method for detecting clandestine nuclear materials.

In February, an international team of researchers used laser-driven neutrons to confirm the presence and quantity of nuclear material inside of a closed container. The experiment is likely to lead to table-top-sized or truck-mounted neutron generators that could be used to catch nuclear smugglers.

So what is a laser-driven neutron pulse?

It is a neutron beam generated by shooting a short-pulse laser at an ultra-thin plastic foil. To put the parameters of this process in perspective, the laser pulse contains about 50 times more energy than the entire production of worldwide electrical power. The pulse lasts for one-half of one-thousandth of a billionth of a second.

The plastic foil is about a dozen times smaller and 300 times thinner than a human hair. The process produces neutrons at an energy of more than 150 million electron volts (150 MeV).

Neutrons can penetrate most materials easily. If the neutrons encounter some nuclear material (like uranium or plutonium) they cause fission and more neutrons are released. Some of these released neutrons are produced over a period of seconds, which allows them to be measured after the initial neutron burst is finished. These 'delayed neutrons' are a good measure of the presence of nuclear material because very few other materials produce them.

"This is something that has never been demonstrated before," said Andreas Favalli, a scientist at Los Alamos who led the international research team, in a press release. "Up until this experiment, nuclear material detection with a single laser-generated neutron pulse was merely an idea. Our team invented the concept, fabricated all the materials necessary for the experiment, and confirmed our results within three weeks from start to finish."

Pretty impressive, especially if it leads to the development of small, portable neutron interrogators that could be used at border crossings, ports and so forth.